The Women and Minorities in Construction Trades Program (WMIC) seeks to eliminate economic barriers commonly associated with an individual’s inability to invest in skills training and work readiness and connect minority group members and women to quality career and training opportunities in the building and construction industry.
Donor Name: New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development
State: New Jersey
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Program
Deadline: 12/05/2025
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
This grant program provides women and minority participants with training to prepare them for placement into Registered Apprenticeships or full-time, long-term employment in the construction industry or building and construction trades occupations and provides quality support services to ensure successful placement and retention in employment.
Goals
- Increase opportunities for minority group members and women to acquire skills, increase employment opportunities and benefit economically from construction/infrastructure projects within New Jersey.
- Assist public works contractors, businesses, and trade unions in meeting their workforce needs through the recruiting and training of women and minority populations.
Objectives
- Engage contractors in the development and provision of construction-related occupational skills training.
- Provide training in the following areas:
- Workforce readiness / employability skills instruction; and,
- Occupation-specific construction-related trades training.
- Ensure participants earn a minimum of one industry-valued credential.
- Assist participants with job placement services targeting employment in a construction industry job paying $17 per hour or more.
- Examples of acceptable employment or Registered Apprenticeship placements include:
- Building and construction trades occupations (including clean energy or lead abatement occupations),
- Administrative, support, or operational occupations job within the construction industry. USDOL Registered Apprenticeship programs within the construction industry.
Funding Information
The maximum amount of funding available for this program in fiscal year (FY) 2026 – Round 1 is anticipated to be $2,500,000.
Grant Period
The contract period is expected to be March 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027.
Eligibility Criteria
- In soliciting proposals, NJDOL shall not discriminate against any person or organization submitting a proposal pursuant to this NGO because of ethnicity, color, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, or other basis prohibited by law.
- This targeted, competitive opportunity is designed to provide funding to eligible organizations to provide construction trades training, placement services and quality support services to women and minority participants in accordance with the NGO. The following organizations are eligible to apply as the lead applicant:
- Any employer based in New Jersey or with a New Jersey presence;
- Workforce Intermediary Sponsors;
- Employer / Trade Associations;
- Any labor organization which represents workers in the occupation for which the apprentices will be trained;
- Labor/Management Partnership (public or private);
- New Jersey Local Education Agency (LEA);
- Public vocational schools within New Jersey;
- Public high schools within New Jersey;
- Two- and four-year institutions of higher education;
- Public or private non-profit organizations (including Community Based Organizations);
- Business or trade organizations representing a particular trade, group of trades, contractors or employers;
- Community-based organizations;
- New Jersey local Workforce Development Boards;
- Economic development organizations;
- State, Local, County governments within New Jersey;
- Faith-based organizations; and
- Any other private educational or training entity that is on the Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL).
For more information, visit DL&WD.
